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GMAT: How do you find time to prep?
 

okay24's picture
IB
(Orangutan, 281
 
Points)
 on 7/16/12 at 9:19pm

How you you all find time to study and do well on the GMAT? Working IBD is intense in the first place.. how do you find time to also study for the GMAT?

I studied a bit this summer and am scoring in the 600s on practice exams, but when I get home from work I find it hard to be able to sit and learn math (or verbal).

Do you guys have any advice? I would like to get a 700+ before the end of August. My last MGMAT CAT was 630 Q40 V34.

I have the MGMAT guides. My main goal is to improve my Math to at least 46+ and then work on verbal

Do you go extremely hard (studying) on the weekends? Do you do a little every night? How many hours/months did it take to achieve your target score? Any advice?

Thanks!

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BGP2587's picture

I did it in the consulting

CO
 
Points)
 on 7/18/12 at 9:35am

I did it in the consulting lifestyle, which is probably easier than it is in IBD, but some of the things you have to do will definitely be applicable to both.

1) Study in the morning. Wake up an hour earlier than usual (yes, shitty) and knock out an hour in the morning. Studying after a 12+ (or whatever you guys work in IBD) is really hard, and your brain is pretty fried. You certainly can't get on more than 1-2 solid hours.

2) Try to squeeze some time in during the day. Many I know in IBD tend to have downtime here and there in a normal workday, so see if you can find time to squeeze in a 10 problem set of Quant here or there. Then when you get a little more downtime later in the day, use it to review your answers (thoroughly). I used the Kaplan Quiz Bank to do this while at work so I wouldn't have to pull out the OG. The problems are pretty good, not quite as good as the OG but they're similar and have good explanations. I think it costs like $150.

3) Use weekends well. That means if you can, two separate 3-4 hour blocks each day. In between, work out, run, do something active and do what you have to do to get your brain back together so you can use another session well. Also, once you've made some solid progress. practice tests should be done on weekends (obviously).

4) Plan effectively. This should probably be number one, but when you have limited time, set deadlines for yourself, and schedule out exactly what you want to do each night studying wise. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew either. If you know you'll only have the energy to study for an hour after work, then maybe your goal is to read through one chapter of the MGMAT guide, do the small problems at th eback of the book, and then do the associated OG problems. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in a wee, that means you've checked off basically a whole MGMAT guide and done 30+ OG problems. If you're knocking out other problems in the mornings or during the day, you'll be making great progress.

It's definitely doable, and tons of people that work horrible hours do it, but it will suck, and it will change your lifestyle for a few months (I studied for about 3 months total, 2 months really hard). Good luck

abacab's picture

Did it as a consultant. Took

IB
 
Points)
 on 7/18/12 at 12:12pm

Did it as a consultant. Took 3-4 weeks off, hung out at parents home and went to University library. Probably not feasible for everyone.

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